Coast Guard Loses Frequency Even As Status Rises

The days of the Coast Guard being the U.S. military's standing joke are long gone in the post-9/11 world. No longer will you hear the old joke that the Coast Guard's motto - "Semper Paratus" (Always Ready) - really means "Simply Forgot Us." The agency has gone from being an emergency response outfit that rescued fishermen into a front line combatant who aggressively secures the nation's coastline and ports. But even the organization's new esteem can't keep it from navigating rough waters in the coming months.

According to an article by David Lamb in the Los Angeles Times, the Coast Guard's new reputation is a direct result of the September 11 terrorist attacks. "On September 10th of 2001, one percent of the Guard's budget was going to port and homeland security," Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R.-N.J.) told Lamb. "September 12, it was 60 percent." Lamb says the Coast Guard is now using preemptive, aggressive actions to secure the nation's 95,000 miles of navigable waterways and 361 major ports.

Despite the new look of the Coast Guard, however, Associated Press reporter Randall Richard says the agency is facing some tough obstacles. Richard says one of the tools the Guard needs is a radio frequency to help monitor the movements and cargo of thousands of ships that enter the nation's ports each year. The Federal Communications Commission sold the agency's frequency at a 1998 auction to MariTEL, Inc. for $6.8 million. MariTEL has offered to sell the frequency back to the Coast Guard for $20 million.

In addition to its frequency woes, by July 1, the agency must also enforce the new anti-terrorism rules mandated by the federal Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. The 8,500 ships and 3,200 port installations that the Coast Guard deemed to be the most at risk for terrorism were required to submit security plans by Dec. 31, 2003. The Coast Guard reports that as many as 700 ships and 300 ports have completely missed the deadline. By July 1, the ports and ships must implement those plans.

To read Randall Richard's article, Click HERE>>

To read David Lamb's article, Click HERE>>